


The Crow, The Owl And The Dove (And The Swan)

by Roseas_Alorei



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Universe, But I blame it on him being sad almost the entire fic, Fairytalestuck, Humanstuck, Karkat is OOC, Karkat is a broken man, Kinda, M/M, This time this is rated for general audiences because there are a very few curse words, poetic?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-16
Updated: 2015-02-16
Packaged: 2018-03-13 08:18:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,628
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3374387
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Roseas_Alorei/pseuds/Roseas_Alorei
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Karkat is afraid to love. Everyone who he has cared about have had something terrible happen to them.<br/>Then his friend John tells him he loves him and they get into a fight. Karkat is left alone in their shared home and suddenly a few strange birds appear.<br/>Will the odd birds change his mind?</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Crow, The Owl And The Dove (And The Swan)

**Author's Note:**

> Okay I didn't mean to write a fanfic when I have another one as a WIP but I listened to "The Crow, The Owl And The Dove" by Nightwish and I was struck with huge inspiration.  
> Then this weird, poem-like fanfiction was born and it could might as well be a fairytale for kids.

It was rather queer.

How something, that had been molded so slowly and carefully for so long, could break in no less than a second.

Karkat and John had been living together as friends for a few years now, sharing feelings of deeper affection in secret from each other, until the louder one had accidentally blurted out what he truly felt toward the more cheerful one. To his relief the said cheerful young man had brushed it off, saying they could still be friends. They shared a time of comfortable silence for several days. Not bringing it up, even though it was in both of their minds. Not long it took for John to try make a move; to show he felt the same way. He didn’t expect things to go that horribly wrong.

Karkat had been very negative about it. He told John no several times and wanted him to understand they could not be anything more than friends. John questioned it for the last time he checked Karkat had been infatuated with him too. He was very confused over why the shorter boy rejected his love.

In the end the bickering between the two boys had escalated into a full blown fight. After the climax, what consisted of unintelligible yelling, John understood they both needed some time alone and left the house, leaving Karkat broken and alone in their shared home: a small cottage away from civilization.

Karkat sat at the terrace, staring forward blankly towards nothing in particular. It was a peaceful day with white clouds cloaking the sky in a thin layer, which looked like felt and a soft breeze slightly cooled the summer heat. Suddenly a lone crow flew to the sad boy, turning into a humanlike being. He kept his distance like the proud soul he was.

The crow was now in the form of a man with fluffy pearl-colored hair and pasty skin. He wore pitch-dark clothing and what used to be his wings now flowed in the wind as an inky cape. His black get-up clearly paralleled the ebony plumage that covered him in his original feathery form and his eyes blossomed crimson like pure rubies, much like Karkat’s own. Normally Karkat would have told anyone who interrupted his peace to fuck off, but alas, at that moment he was nothing but a shadow of the character he usually was therefore he didn’t even bother to brawl at the intruder. He stared at the crow and noticed that he looked exactly like his old lover Dave from the streets, who died when he was stabbed by two gangsters.

“I couldn’t help but notice, human, that you seem to be upset about something,” the crow said in the same voice Dave used to speak.

“I do not understand why you even care,” Karkat answered. His sentence lacked the venom it was supposed to have. The crow only responded with a shrug. He showed no disappointment and no sign of emotion formed on his pale face.

“I may be a proud creature, but I feel I want to help somehow.”

Karkat looked at him for a while until he stated, “I envy your pride but what I need is nothing you have.”

The crow turned into a bird again and flew away in his winged form.

* * *

Karkat sat alone for only a short while until an owl came to him.

He turned into a man in probably his thirties or forties with rather neat blonde hair and his light brown feathers turned into worn out clothes, which consisted of a button-up shirt, a vest and pants in different shades of brown. He had heterochromia: the right eye being red and the other blue. Karkat noticed the man looked like that old and wise homeless man Sollux, who had taught him his ways when he had lost his home and did not know how to survive on the streets. Sadly the man had disappeared without a trace.

“What theemth to be the matter, young one?” the owl asked with a lisp Karkat remembered all too well. “Are you in need of thomething?”

“You have taught me your ways and I envy your sense yet I need nothing you have.”

The owl grew wings and flew away in his bird form.

* * *

Karkat watched as a small dove came to him without fear.

She turned into a small child covered with only a long white coat that used to be her wings. She was pure and innocent, with no special shapes to lust for. Instead her soft, fragile body only gave her gazer a yearning to protect her. She peered at him angelically with her big, shiny eyes that were like two olive orbs. The dove reached her small and chubby hands to gently grab Karkat’s arm. He lowered his other hand to pet her chestnut hair that felt like the smoothest of feathers. Karkat allowed himself to give her a faint smile, which she happily reciprocated. She was exactly like his precious little sister Nepeta, who had got sick and passed away in his arms. Karkat had not been able to do anything to help her for he had only been a brat himself.

“I can feel that your heart longs for love,” the dove said sympathetically. Her voice was merry and high-pitched just like a child.

“It does. I envy your love but sadly I need nothing you have.”

The dove’s face turned into a pout. She turned into her feathery form and flew away.

* * *

A swan appeared on the lake in front of the terrace Karkat sat in.

The lake mirrored the swan’s sweet beauty and she suddenly turned into an elegant woman with pale skin in a silky, pure white dress. Her short hair was a dark mahogany and she was tall and slender. She skated towards Karkat on the lake’s surface and she looked at him tenderly with her eyes of jade jewels. Karkat realized she was the splitting image of Kanaya Maryam, his aunt who had taken him into her care alongside Nepeta after their parents had died. She herself had died in a car crash when Karkat was ten.

The swan opened her arms into a hug which Karkat decided to accept. She felt calming and smelled like rosemary, the same fragrance his aunt Kanaya had smelled like. Karkat kissed the swan’s neck and tried very hard to not cry. The swan stroked his back in a soothing motion, comforting him. She asked him quietly, “You long for something, do you not?”

“I adore your grace, but I need nothing you could give,” Karkat answered, lifting his head.

The swan frowned and she tilted her forehead to touch his. “Yes. The key to your happiness has a new wielder,” she said glumly.

“I do have some advice for you, though: _Gar tuht river, ger te rheged_.”

She then flew away as a swan.

Karkat knew a little Cumbrian, and what she had just said roughly meant _“go to the river, you will arrive in fairyland.”_

He wondered what she meant by that until he remembered the river close by. He thought for a moment if he should go and decided why not. He had nothing to do in an empty house and he really needed a change of scenery.

* * *

Karkat sat next to the river picking at the flowers. His mind was filled with grief over John and his other loved ones.

Suddenly he heard the grass rustling and somebody sat next to him. “Hey,” said a familiar voice. Karkat shifted and looked away from the person next to him.

“Karkat, _please_.”

“Give me no love, I’ve had my share.”

“ _Karkat._ ”

Karkat turned to look into John’s eyes and whispered, “Go find someone else. Someone beautiful and easy to talk to, so you can have some rest from dealing with me.”

“Karkat. I need neither beauty nor rest. I need you. And the truth.”

Karkat looked at John, who was full of determination. He sighed.

“I’m afraid. I’m afraid to love you, because everyone whom I have cared for I have also lost. I- I can’t afford to lose you too. You were the one to take me under your wing when I was too tired and beat to take care of myself. You breathed life into me and made me happier than I ever was. I didn't want anything bad to happen to you, but I was too damn selfish to let go either. I thought that maybe the universe wouldn't take you away from me if I just suffered from keeping my feelings in secret. If you leave me too, I have nothing to live for anymore…”

Karkat started crying and John took him into his embrace.

“Don’t cry Karkat. I’m not going anywhere. And I swear, cross my heart, that I will love you till my last breath.”

They sat in silence for what seemed like an eternity, until John asked, “Wanna go home? I can make some chocolate cake.”

“How did you know that was just what I needed?”

“I’ve lived with you for years Karkat. It’s kinda hard to not notice that you tend to eat sweets when you’re upset.”

Then the two started walking home. At that moment Karkat realized, that if anything the birds taught him was that your loved ones never really left you.

They’d always be in your heart and watch over you as angels.

Or could it be birds?

* * *

Karkat and John lived the rest of their life together as happy as they could be. And they noticed that the tree in their yard was now inhabited by a crow, an owl and a dove. And in their lake would always swim a beautiful white swan.

#  The End

**Author's Note:**

> Whew. There it was everybody.  
> BTW if you're curious or confused about Karkat's past here's his timeline:  
> Age 3: Parents die; into Kanaya's care  
> Age 10: Kanaya dies  
> Age 11: Nepeta gets sick and dies at the age of 8  
> Age 13: Meets Sollux, few months later meets Dave  
> Age 15: Sollux disappears  
> Age 16: Dave dies, few months later meets John  
> Karkat and John are currently both in their early twenties.


End file.
